Rivera decides to get more defensive in third year

The Carolina Panthers' defense wasn't bad last season; it just wasn't good enough to help the club win more than seven games.

From a statistical standpoint the unit was 13th against the pass (223 yards per game), 14th against the run (110.1 ypg) and 18th in points allowed (22.7). It also featured linebacker Luke Kuechly, who went on to win NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year honors and had 103 solo tackles for the Charlotte-based team.

Add the contributions of linebacker Thomas Davis (105 total tackles, 70 solo) and cornerback Josh Norman (73/52), and the unit was far more effective than the 2011 edition.

But Carolina coach Ron Rivera — once a defensive coordinator — thought the best way for the Panthers to make a major step in his third season was to gain a few more steps on defense.

That's why the franchise's first two picks of the draft were defensive tackles Star Lotulelei out of Utah (first round, 14th overall) and Purdue's Kawann Short (second round, 44th overall).

"I'm very pleased with what we did with the defensive front," Rivera said. "Those guys are big. They have first step quickness and they're vertical. Both these guys had a good workout and we feel very comfortable with them. A good front helps the back."

The team still has some issues on offense.

Another sure-handed receiver is needed, and whether or not the rushing tandem of DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart can ever return to full fitness and effectiveness is questionable.

Still, with quarterback Cam Newton serving as the offense's centerpiece, Rivera and general manager Gettleman have enough confidence in the players on that side of the ball to make defense the top priority in this year's draft.

"Obviously we feel really good about the first two kids and feel like they can play immediately," Gettleman said.

The draftees insist they're ready to make an immediate impact as well.

"I played 92 percent of the games on defense in college," Lotulelei said. "I give everything I have on every play. Something I can improve on is continually getting my motor running, but I have a lot of confidence in my play and I know I can improve."

The 6-3, 311-pounder, who says he "can play heavy or light," had 11 tackles for loss last season as well as five sacks, three forced fumbles and four fumble recoveries.

In 2011 he was named the Pac-12's top defensive lineman with 44 tackles.

Joining him is 6-3, 300-lb. Short, a four-year starter with the Boilermakers.

In 2011 he had 54 tackles — 17 of them for loss — and last season was hampered with an ankle injury but still contributed six sacks and 14.5 tackles for loss.

"(Lotulelei) and I have become close friends," Short said. "He's a real down to earth person. We're going to create havoc. We're going to do what we do best. He was at Utah and I was at Purdue, so now we'll just put it both together and try to help out the ends around us and just the whole defensive line in general."

Last season the Panthers shuffled in as many as seven DTs during a game.

Rivera says adding two more — especially two more who will compete for quality minutes — can only help the rest of the defense.

"We felt like we really needed to build the front," Rivera said. "We have quality players but bringing these guys in adds to it and it'll take some pressure off guys like (DT) Dwan (Edwards) and (DE) Charles (Johnson) and (DE) Greg (Hardy). We won't need Greg to play as much 3-technique as he did.

"It'll help our linebackers, too, because now they'll be able to run."

Short realizes he and Lotulelei will be the upstarts in camp, but that merely increases the motivation.

"He's a powerful guy and I'm more of a pass rusher and run stopper," Short said. "We've got a different type of game but we can both do some good things together. I want to come in and compete and everything else will open up from there."

For his part, Lotulelei has been in the workaday world before and doesn't care to return anytime soon.

"Football is what I'm made for," he said. "Football is what I need to be doing. I worked for a company moving furniture for a while and I didn't like it too much."